By Karen Sampson

My favorite locale at school used to be the library – the voracious reader in me was thrilled at the fact that there could be so many books under one roof. I may be all grown up now, but I still get goose bumps when I’m surrounded by books of all shapes and sizes. I only wish I had the time to sit and read them all. Libraries have always held a special place in my heart – they were my sources of refuge any time I felt at odds with the world and the people in it; they were my sanctuaries when I needed to be by myself; and they were places I could run to when I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.

A library is more than just a collection of books and periodicals. It is:

•    A treasure trove for people who love to read: If you’re as fond of books as I am, you’ll understand what I mean. I used to wish that I could live in a library, and go on and on reading and reading to my heart’s content.
•    A sanctuary to work in peace: If you’re the kind who finds it difficult to work in crowded and noisy locations, a library is just the place to go. Most buildings today offer an aisle of computers and a good Internet connection, so you’re relatively free to work in peace. They also feature Wi-Fi connections if you want to use your own notebook computer.
•    A storehouse of knowledge; Of course, you do have Google and Wikipedia today, but the most authentic source of information is still the library. It’s a great place to take kids when you want them to teach them about something. And it’s a great place to broaden your knowledge about any subject in the world.

Today though, the trend is to move away from the traditional libraries that we know and towards the digital kinds that advances in the computer and the Internet have fostered. But no matter how convenient this is, no matter how technologically advanced this is, nothing can beat the actual sounds and smells of a library, of real books that are made of paper, and of the random process of searching for and finally finding the book you’re dying to read. 

Even so, if you prefer the digital way of life, there are entire libraries being digitized. So all you need to do is use your search skills on the Internet, and voila, you have the books that you want at your disposal!

 

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